Erickson said the Northwest defense didn’t adapt to Laramie’s top scorers.

“You can’t keep playing the same way you are, we have to make an adjustment on the fly,” Erickson said.

A zone defense may have slowed down the Laramie offense but the game’s circumstances forced the Trappers to stay in man-to-man defense for most of the game.

“We would have played more of it but we got down by so much, it’s hard to sit back in a zone and let them run 30 minutes off the shot clock,” Erickson said.

The coach hopes Friday’s loss was a learning experience for his team.

“We need our guys to be able to handle a six- or eight-point run and be able to come back with one of their own,” Erickson said.

Northwest had a chance to win Saturday’s game against Eastern Wyoming but couldn’t hold onto a late second-half lead and ultimately lost by three on overtime.

“We had an opportunity to put them away,” Erickson said. “It was a good game, I’m proud of how our guys fought.”

With the game tied at 64 and only seven seconds left on the clock, Gordon got the ball to within 12 feet of the basket but his potential game-winner was just a bit long.

“It looked good,” Erickson said. “It just hit the back iron.”

Gordon wasn’t the only Trapper to miss a good look.

“We missed probably 10 or 15 layups,” Erickson said.

Sophomore Jonothan Newsom led the Trappers with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

“We’ve got to have that from him all the time,” Erickson said. “If he plays like that ... we’ll be all right.”

Sophomore Lawrence Fejokwu had a double-double as well, his second of the season, with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

“He played really well,” Erickson said. “He was a beast around the basket.”

KJ Rech added 12 points and six boards.

“He was a workhorse,” Erickson said.

The coach said his team will need to improve its mental toughness to win close games, but already saw improvement from Friday to Saturday.

“We made a move in the right way,” Erickson said.

The men played Rocky Mountain JV Wednesday night in Billings after press time.

The Trappers then begin a five-game homestand Friday and Saturday with the Lamplighter Tournament. Northwest faces the Sons of Blue Angels at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and the Montana All-Stars at 3 p.m. Saturday.

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